Former Chancellor of the Judiciary Justice Cecil Kennard has died at age 86 at his home.
Justice Kennard was hospitalised several weeks ago. He was subsequently staying at home when on Wednesday his condition began to worsen.
He died just before 02:00h today.
The former Chancellor, who is a recipient of the Order of Roraima (OR), studied Law in the United Kingdom’s prestigious Lincoln’s Inn. He returned to Guyana in 1962 to open a private practice in Berbice, from where he hails. In 1965 he was appointed State Counsel (prosecutor) in the Director of Public Prosecutions Chambers, before being elevated to senior State Counsel in 1968. He also served as the Guyana Police Force’s legal advisor.
Kennard served in the Court of Appeal before becoming Chief Justice, serving from 1995 to 1996. He then served as Chancellor of the Judiciary from 1996 to 2002, when he left the Judiciary to take up his position at the Police Complaints Authority (PCA) where he served until 2017.
Justice Kennard was also the honorary President of the Kennard Memorial Turf Club located at Bush Lot. Justice Kennard was most famous in the sporting fraternity for hosting his annual Boxing day horse racing meet, Emancipation Day Horse racing meet and Independence Day meet which were held every year at the club until the pandemic put a halt on the proceedings.
After devoting over 50 years of his life to serving Guyana, Justice Kennard was in 2017 forced to retire from his post as PCA Chairman by the then President David Granger.
In an interview with this media house at the time, Justice Kennard had expressed his disappointment with the manner in which he was forced out of office.
